Who's Online

Redyre_Rotties

I have a question & I believe that you will have expierienced this yourself with your rotties & probably have a solution.

My weim is almost 4 months old & when I take him out for a walk, he pulls terribly on his leash... so much so that my arms are sore from trying to hold him back to my side when we walk. I have been working on having Beau sit whenever I stop walking & he does pretty good with it sometimes. If I let him walk ahead on the leash, he goes from side to side on the sidewalk & ends up stepping right in front of me or my son & sometimes we step on his toes.

When I take Beau out for his first morning potty duty, I have had to put him on a retractable leash so he doesn't pull me off the stairs to get outside. As the day goes on, he doesn't pull as hard going down the stairs as the need is not that urgent.

So I am asking for any advice that you (or others) can offer me about how to get Beau to stop from walking me & pulling me down the stairs (which I have already twisted my ankle). I am tired of him trying to walk me.

Take it to obedience class. I dont know what you believe,but I use the prong collar.It may looks mean but its not and it gets great results.I like using them more than a choke collar because it can damage the throat. If he is on a choke collar you need to make sure its on properly or it will ot work.with the prong collar you dont have to worry about it being on wrong and it hurting your dog. with the choke collar it needs to be up high on the neck,right past the ears and right under the jaw.You can also try a head Halti.

Here is a study on prong collars and choke collars. A Study on Prong Collars was done in Germany: 100 dogs were in the study. 50 used choke and 50 used prong. The dogs were studied for their entire lives. As dogs died, autopsies were performed. Of the 50 which had chokes, 48 had injuries to the neck, trachea, or back. 2 of those were determined to be genetic. The other 46 were caused by trauma. Of the 50 which had prongs, 2 had injuries in the neck area, 1 was determined to be genetic. 1 was caused by trauma. I'm sure you know what prong collars looks like.

Here is a halti. Head collars are designed to teach the dog much the way an alpha dog teaches. The Halti is a design based on a harness for a horse. It is very easy to place on the dog. It features a loop at the bottom that will tighten around the dogs muzzle during a correction. It never harms the dog, unlike a choker or prong collar. I find this collar works best to prevent unwanted chewing and barking as it works to close the mouth. The Gentle Leader is a figure eight collar. It fits snuggly at the base of the dogs head, just below the ears, and loosely around the nose. Proper fit is essential with this collar. With this collar, the loop fits under the eyes and doesn't tighten or restrict the mouth in any way. It leads from the base of the neck, above the adam's apple. I find that this collar works best for walking as it truly guides the dog. Also, this collar can be left on the dog all day. It is much harder for the dog to remove than the Halti, as long as it is on properly. I'm sure you know what these look like to,if not I can put pics up.

I use a prong collar on Summer, too. She used to be a huge pain to walk and now she is fine, I never even have to correct her with the collar. She knows when it's on that she cannot pull and she doesn't. Eventually I hope that she can go back to a regular buckle collar but it won't be soon.

My vet said that the prong collars are better than choke collars because they won't damage the throat like the choke collar.

Thanks... I am planning to take him to obidience classes in January, that's when the next classes start up.

Currently I use 1 of those harnesses that are supposed to prevent him from pulling & he doesn't pull as hard, but usually he keeps it tight enough that he can tolerate it. If I am in a hurry & don't use this harness, he walks me & pulls for all he's worth & starts making those caughing/choking sounds.

I was considering the halti, my brother-in-law had 1 for his black lab & they loved it.

As for the gentle leader that you mentioned, I have not seen those.

I never considered the prong collar, but you have provided enough useful information that I will consider it.

Prong collars are invaluable. Very few corrections are even needed. They dont choke, they pinch, designed to provide a correction similar to a mother dog on a pup. They cured my puller almost immediately and I NEVER have to correct anymore, ever.

Personally I would not put a PRONG COLLAR on a 4 mos old puppy, altho I do use them in my training when needed and have no problem with their correct use.

The first thing to realize is it takes two of you for the puppy to pull. ;) If he has nothing to pull against, he can't pull.

So here is what you do. Put a handful of tiny treats in both your pockets.

Make sure your collar is HIGH up on the puppy's neck. Right behind the ears, right up under the chin, with the collar ring well around under the chin towards the left ear of the dog for leverage.

The SECOND your pup goes out to give you a tight lead, give him a BIG TUG backwards. This should not be a sharp yank, but a firm big tug that will physically move the dog back towards you by at least 18 to 24 inches. You might need to take a step backwards as you do this.

As SOON as you have moved the dog backwards, immediately drop a BIG slack loop in the leash so that he is completely on a totally loose lead.

Reach into your left pocket, encourage the pup to come to your left side, and give him the treat.

NEVER allow him to lean on the collar when you have him on lead. Never again, not even for a second.

EVERY time he gets out to pull on the lead, give him the same treatment. BIG tug backwards, immediately slack in the lead, and food reward for being at your left side.

Once he is getting the picture, you can start saying "Get back" as you are tugging him backwards. He will soon learn this command too, and you can then use that instead of the tug.

Those of you training puppies, be smart. NEVER allow your pup to pull. Use the same tug and release and reward at your left side method to help the pup learn not to pull.

Please up date me on how your weim is doing after trying this for a couple of days. If you work it properly, he will stop pulling after MINUTES. Not days. ;)

Retractable leads are to blame for most peoples leading problems. The dogs "boundaries" keep changing. If you expect a dog to lead properly then you need to go back to a standard lead, then the dog will learn to except a uniform "boundary".

Hank... I only use the retractable lead (100% of the time) when it's first thing in the morning... my body is so stiff when I first wake up that I can't afford to let the "little stinker" pull me off the top step (he's come close a few times) & I don't have a fenced in yard yet...

But I understand what you are saying & when I should use the retractable leash while on the walk (I like the comfort of the handle when he pulls, easier than cutting off circulation to my hand & fingers from wrapping up the regular leash I have now) I lock it in at the shortest spot so he can't pull freely.

Thanks again to all... I haven't been able to give Redyre's method a good honest try yet as it's been snowing/freezing rain today... Hopefully the weather will be better tomorrow... I already have my pockets full of treats :-)

Redyre... I have been trying today with his regular treats, up & down the walkway (where there are no distractions) & then to the store (which was about 9pm, so no distractions there either)... he did ok for the first couple of times but then just went back to pulling hard even with me holding the treat by myside.

What he did was sniff it, tried to get it immediately & then bolted to the end of the leash. I pulled him back & showed him the treat, but he would just carry on the same way. I plan on trying hotdogs tomorrow... I am thinking that maybe he will appreciate those for a reward more.

If I don't see any improvement by the weekend, I will consider a halti 1st & then (if necessary) move on to a prong collar later on down the road, but that will be way later.

My worst problem is that I suffer from a neck injury received almost 3 years ago & when he pulls, or there is any stress on that arm, it begins to ache & usually weaken. I estimate him at approx 30 lbs now, but even at that light weight (considering he will get to be about 75 lbs) he gives me a good yank. I am worried about the snow & ice season around the corner combined with his growing strength & increasing weight, I won't stand (literaly) much of a chance.

So here is to hoping HotDogs are his great temptation treat. I let you know.

You have to take your lead in both hands, and PULL him back, WAY back, next to your side.

DITCH the flexi lead. You can NOT do this technique with a flexi.

The treat is NOT to bribe the dog. No showing the treat to keep him at your side. The treat is to REWARD him when he is near your side. If you show the treat, you must feed it. No bribing with treats.

Read the original post.

PULL BACK so that the puppy moves BRISKLY and FIRMLY backwards towards you by at least 2 feet. I mean take your leash, and PULL him backwards so that he has a rude experience each time he gets to the end of the leash.

IMMEDIATELY dump ALL the slack into the leash, and grab a treat and feed him.

ONe other way is to do a 180 about turn each time he gets far enough past you that he cannot see you. Let him hit the end of the leash while you are going in the other direction.

Please please, get this puppy into training class asap, it is almost impossible to communicate proper technique via the printed word.

DO NOT ALLOW HIM TO LEAN ON HIS COLLAR AND PULL AT ANY TIME>

Be realistic, now. This is a TWELVE WEEK OLD PUPPY. What the heck are you going to do when he is a mature 70 lb dog?

Get busy, get on his butt and stay there, and let him know you ARE the boss, and you mean business, and the bad bad leash booger man lives out at the end of the lead.